"Hermione, I'm begging you, please stop talking!"
The moment Harry heard that, he raised both hands toward Hermione in surrender.
Ron, on the other hand, had a dark look on his face as he mocked, "Hermione, be honest, did your menopause come early? What do Muggles call it again? Oh right! Hormonal imbalance, that's why your temper's so bad?"
The moment he said that, Hermione's expression changed.
She shot Ron a cold glance, then said to Harry, "Don't pity them. They completely brought this on themselves. Gryffindor's points have been deducted into the negatives this year, which is practically unheard of. It's obvious now that the House Cup is out of our reach this year! And it's all their fault!"
"And what I said about making things worse while trying to help wasn't sarcasm, it's the truth."
"Why do you think the professors made them go do manual labor?"
"It's not because Hogwarts is short-staffed. It's purely punishment!"
"Heh, Filch must be over the moon lately! He's got hundreds of free laborers under him now, and the worst part is, they're not even allowed to use magic while working!"
Listening to Hermione, Ron finally fell silent, as if recalling something too painful to think about, and covered his eyes.
At the same time, in Harry's mind, an image appeared of Ron and the others working like slaves building pyramids in ancient Egypt, being whipped by Filch as they wailed.
Just imagining it sent a chill down his spine.
"Alright, enough. I think we should go to Potions class!"
Harry quickly stood up, shook his head to clear away the chaotic images, and spoke fast.
"Wow! You can still remember we have class? That's surprising," Hermione sneered again. "I thought your head was full of nothing but Gabrielle and Quidditch. Remember the time we went to Hufflepuff to protect Gabrielle? When you saw her, your eyes practically froze."
The moment Hermione said that, Ron perked up immediately, his eyes wide as he leaned in, clearly ready to enjoy the show.
Based on what he knew about Harry, Harry would definitely get extremely embarrassed next, maybe even start arguing with Hermione.
And that would make Harry just like him, a fellow "ally in war"!
But to his surprise, Harry didn't look angry at all.
Instead, he looked at Hermione with concern and said, "Hermione, seriously, your temper today is really off. Are you not feeling well?"
"Uh..."
Hermione froze on the spot.
Her face turned a little red, and her right hand instinctively moved to her lower abdomen, but she still said stubbornly,
"The one who's off is you… saying things like that…"
By the end, her voice had become so soft it was almost inaudible. She stamped her foot and walked out of the Great Hall first.
Seeing this, Ron and Harry exchanged a glance and hurried after her.
The three of them chased after her all the way to the Potions classroom.
For a long time in the past, walking down this path toward the dungeons had put immense pressure on Harry.
Not only because this was Snape's domain, but also because the Slytherin common room was not far from here.
But this time was different.
Just thinking that the one teaching them wouldn't be Snape anymore, but that old man Slughorn, made Harry feel inexplicably relaxed.
Slughorn might be a bit snobbish, but he should be far better than Snape.
When the three of them arrived, there were already twelve or thirteen people gathered in the corridor outside the classroom.
This should be all the students in this year's Advanced Potions class.
Harry wasn't surprised at all.
Not everyone could put up with Snape's sharp tongue.
Snape's terrible personality had made many people at Hogwarts, including Harry himself, consider giving up Potions altogether.
In a sense, Snape's presence hadn't helped revive Potions. Instead, it had made this ancient subject even less popular from the very start.
Harry looked around at the people standing in the corridor.
He didn't see Goyle or Crabbe among them.
Clearly, their grades were so bad that not even having the Potions professor as their Head of House could get them through.
What really surprised Harry, though, was that Slytherins didn't actually make up a large portion of this Advanced Potions class.
Out of the dozen or so people, there were only four Slytherins, including Draco.
He looked much more low-key than before. When he saw Harry, he didn't come over to cause trouble. Instead, he shrank back into a corner.
And judging by where he stood, he didn't seem to get along very well with the other three Slytherins either.
Harry knew very well that the main reason for all these changes was that Draco's father, Lucius Malfoy, had been arrested.
This should have been something worth celebrating. Logically, Harry should have felt happy, maybe even gone over to mock him and get back at him for past insults.
But for some reason, Harry didn't feel even a bit of joy.
All he could think about was how Draco Malfoy would live after losing his father, along with a sense of worry.
This strange, complicated feeling even made him grab Ron when Ron was about to go over and cause trouble for Draco.
"Hey! Harry, don't be like that. I'm just going over to say hello to our Mr. Malfoy. I won't cause trouble!"
Ron patted Harry's hand, which was gripping his arm tightly, while spouting something no one would believe.
Harry's expression was complicated as he silently shook his head.
He didn't tell Ron that he wasn't worried about him causing trouble. He just felt sorry for Draco Malfoy.
Beside him, Hermione snapped back like she'd swallowed gunpowder, "I'd advise you not to move, Ron. Otherwise, I guarantee your labor punishment will be extended!"
"Think about it. By then, everyone else will have finished their punishment, but you, the Gryffindor prefect, will still be serving tea and even cleaning the girls' bathroom."
As soon as she said that, Ron's eyebrows shot up again.
He glared, about to explode, but at that moment, the dungeon door opened.
"Time for class, come in quickly, children!"
Professor Slughorn stood at the door, speaking cheerfully. Perhaps because he was too excited, his large belly jiggled as he spoke.
Draco lowered his head and slipped into the classroom first, almost like he was fleeing.
Professor Slughorn didn't pay it much attention. His focus was clearly on Harry and Zabini not far away.
When the two of them passed by him, he was noticeably more enthusiastic, his walrus-like mustache twitching constantly.
But after entering the classroom, Harry realized that the Potions room had completely changed.
Slughorn seemed to look down on Snape's taste in decoration.
He had removed the display shelves that used to line the walls and thrown away all the strange specimens on them, along with the gloomy furniture and wallpaper.
In their place was a full set of solid wood furniture in warm tones.
It made the entire Potions classroom feel much more normal.
At least it felt more… human.
Not only that, several cauldrons were placed around the classroom.
They constantly released thick white steam. As it drifted through the air, the entire room became hazy, filled with all kinds of strange smells.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked past the bubbling cauldrons, sniffing with interest.
The others found seats according to their houses and sat down.
"Over here! Harry, come here! I promise you won't regret it!"
Ernie Macmillan suddenly called out to Harry.
He was the only Hufflepuff among the dozen or so students in the Advanced Potions class.
Even though he could be a bit arrogant, Harry liked him.
Seeing him sitting alone at a table closest to a golden cauldron, making exaggerated faces, Harry thought he was worried about being alone, so he pulled Ron and Hermione over.
But once the three of them actually sat down, they realized what was special about this seat.
Because from the golden cauldron not far from them, a strange, wonderful fragrance kept drifting out.
It was a scent Harry had never smelled before.
It made him think at the same time of treacle tart, the woody smell of a broomstick, and a flowery scent he was sure he had smelled at the Burrow.
He found himself slowly, deeply breathing it in. The scent filled him like alcohol, and a huge sense of satisfaction washed over him. He grinned at Ron, and Ron grinned back lazily.
"See? I didn't lie to you!"
Ernie was grinning foolishly as well, tilting his head back as he spoke proudly.
Harry and Ron nodded repeatedly. Only Hermione kept frowning, even pinching her nose with her fingers as if she were smelling something foul.
"Be careful, there's something wrong with that smell!"
Hermione said in a muffled voice. It was clearly a well-meaning warning.
Unfortunately, Harry and Ron didn't care at all right now. They didn't even bother arguing with her anymore.
That only made Hermione even angrier.
"Alright, alright, alright," said Slughorn. Seen through the thick steam, his bulky figure looked almost hazy. "Everyone, take out your scales, your potion kits, and don't forget your Advanced Potion-Making textbooks!"
Slughorn's voice seemed to carry some kind of magic, pulling Harry and the others out of their lazy state.
They quickly took out their books and tools. Ron naturally squeezed in next to Harry, sharing the brand-new copies of Advanced Potion-Making.
Throughout the whole process, Slughorn's gaze remained fixed on Harry.
Seeing that Harry was ready, he puffed out his already round chest even more, the buttons on his vest looking like they were about to pop.
"I've prepared a few potions to broaden your horizons, of course, just for interest. By the time you finish this class, you should be able to make things like these yourselves. Even if you haven't made them, you must have heard of them. Can anyone tell me what this one is?"
Slughorn spoke excitedly, pointing at the cauldron closest to the Slytherin table.
Through the hazy steam, Harry could clearly see something that looked like a pot of clear water boiling.
Hermione's well-trained hand shot up immediately. Slughorn pointed at her.
"It's Veritaserum, a colorless, odorless potion that forces the drinker to tell the truth."
Hermione answered almost instantly, standing up the moment Slughorn pointed at her.
"Very good, very good!"
Slughorn said happily. "Now," he pointed to the cauldron nearest the Ravenclaw table and continued, "this one is quite famous… it was even highlighted in some pamphlets the Ministry recently put out… who can...?"
Hermione's hand shot up again.
"Polyjuice Potion, sir."
"Excellent, excellent! I never expected to find a Potions prodigy here that I didn't already know!" Slughorn exclaimed. "My dear, what's your name?"
"Hermione Granger, sir."
"Granger? Granger? Are you related to Hector Dagworth-Granger, the founder of the Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers?"
"No, I don't think so, sir. I'm Muggle-born."
Hermione lowered her head as she spoke. From Harry's angle, he could clearly see the flush on her face.
It was obvious she felt a bit embarrassed by the latter part of Slughorn's question.
Harry could even see that not far away, on the Slytherin side, Zabini had leaned toward Malfoy and was whispering something, a mocking smile on his face.
Malfoy, on the other hand, looked somewhat restrained.
He only managed to force out a faint smile before quickly lowering his head again.
That made Harry's heart jump to his throat.
Given Slughorn's snobbish nature, Harry could easily guess how he might treat Hermione next.
But this time, he was wrong.
Slughorn didn't show any disappointment at all.
Instead, he smiled warmly, looking at Hermione and then at Harry beside her.
"Harry once mentioned to me that he has an exceptionally outstanding Muggle friend with remarkable talent for learning! I suppose that friend must be Miss Granger, right?"
Hearing this, Hermione turned to look at Harry in surprise.
Harry, on the other hand, said stiffly, "Y-yes, sir."
"Very good, very good. Twenty well-deserved points to Miss Granger of Gryffindor."
Slughorn said kindly.
Harry felt his scalp go numb.
He really hadn't expected Slughorn to say something like that.
He turned to Hermione with a delighted look, only to find her already looking at him.
Their eyes met, and to his surprise, he noticed her eyes were slightly red.
That made Harry feel even lighter.
But just then, Slughorn walked up to them and pointed at the golden cauldron.
"So, Harry, can you tell me what potion is in this cauldron?"
"Uh..."
Harry opened his mouth wide and stood up blankly.
At this moment, he couldn't even tell which side Slughorn was on.
If you said he was deliberately making things difficult for him, he had just helped Hermione out.
But if you said he was on their side, then why ask a question like this?
Professor Slughorn… couldn't really think he could identify potions just by appearance like Hermione, could he?
Harry stared blankly at the cauldron in front of him, his mind completely empty.
But just then, a voice echoed in his head again, the one that only ever appeared in dreams.
'I love you, I love you, I love you…'
As the voice kept repeating, Harry felt his mind blur. Then suddenly, a spark flashed. It was as if his brain had suddenly opened up, countless bits of knowledge surging out from within.
And then Harry realized, to his surprise, that he seemed to actually recognize the potion in front of him?